The various embodiments disclosed herein relate to a drainage cannula with an anchor tab.
After surgery, a dead space within the patient's body is typically created. Bodily fluid is aggregated within this dead space and must be drained to prevent infections and collection of bodily fluids which will require evacuation. To this end, a drainage cannula is inserted into a patient's body to drain the bodily fluid from the patient. A portion of the cannula is disposed inside the patient's body under the skin while another portion of the cannula is disposed outside the patient's body. Bodily fluid created within the patient's body flows out of the cannula into a reservoir for disposal at a later time. Unfortunately, the cannula is capable of shifting and the apertures formed on the cannula disposed within the body can be exposed to the environment. In this unfortunate event, bodily fluid will leak out of those apertures exposed to the environment and create sanitary issues. Moreover, the portion of the cannula that was previously disposed within the body and is now exposed to the environment is now contaminated. One cannot merely reinsert or push the cannula back into the patient's body. Otherwise, the exposed and contaminated portion of the cannula would cause an infection in the patient's body. Another problem of the prior art drainage cannula is that one of the apertures formed on the proximal side may become exposed to the atmosphere. In this case, the closed vacuum suction being used to draw bodily fluid from the patient to a reservoir would lose suction and prevent the withdrawal of bodily fluid from the patient. As discussed previously, the cannula cannot be merely reinserted or pushed into the patient's body due to contamination of the exposed portion of the drainage cannula. Instead, the exposed aperture may be covered with tape to reestablish the vacuum in the drainage cannula. If the drainage cannula shifts a significant distance so that a significant number of apertures are now exposed to the environment or the apertures are no longer properly positioned within the patient's body, the doctor must reestablish the drain. To do so, the patient must be anesthetized, opened up and the drainage cannula repositioned.
In order to prevent the drainage cannula from shifting out of the patient's body, complex suturing methods are used in an attempt to secure the drainage cannula in position. In particular, a series of sutures are made on the exposed portion of the drainage cannula that ties the exposed portion of the drainage cannula to the skin of the patient. Unfortunately, this does not provide proper securement of the drainage cannula and still allows the drainage cannula to shift out of the patient's body.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved drainage cannula which can be easily secured in a desired position within/upon a patient to prevent unintentional cannula shifting.